Milo Manara's 225 sqm Mural for Padua Anatomy Institute Centenary

Milo Manara has created a 225-square-meter mural for the 100th anniversary of the Istituto di Anatomia Umana at the Università degli Studi di Padova. The work, executed with the Tattoo Wall technique, spans three staircases and the ceiling, depicting the historical relationship between the university and anatomical science. It includes references to Vesalius's dissections, Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical studies, and Michelangelo's 1511 study of a right arm. The mural symbolically represents the death-life continuum as a knowledge-care binomial. The ceiling features a reinterpretation of Giotto's sky from the Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padua, with Adam and Eve symbolizing the cyclical return of life after death. Manara was inspired by the phrase "Mors Ubi Gaudet Succurrere Vitae." The mural was inaugurated with a video featuring the Corollario choir, directed by Nunzio Borra, performing Gaudeamus in the institute's spaces. Manara thanked Professor De Caro and Architect Olivi for the commission, and noted the help of his daughter Simona.